Trustees

After training at St Thomas' Hospital in London and completing an Oncology Course at the Royal Marsden Hospital, Helen joined University Hospitals Bristol in 1987. During this time she worked as an Oncology Ward Sister and Palliative Care Nurse Specialist, before moving into clinical management roles as a Matron and Head of Nursing. In 2003 she completed a Masters degree at Reading University in Death and Society.

In 2012 Helen was appointed as the Deputy Chief Nurse, where her portfolio of work included operational, strategic and professional leadership for dementia care, reducing falls, end of life care, pre and post registration nurse education, the introduction of a new electronic rostering and acuity and dependency system, and adult and children's safeguarding.

Helen retired from her role in January 2021. Specific areas of interest for Helen are dementia, palliative and end of life care.

James is Director of People and Organisation Development at the University of Bristol. He has 20 years' experience in change management and human resources and holds Masters Degrees in both disciplines. He has previously worked for the charities Sustrans and Marie Curie in senior HR leadership roles. He has also worked for Deloitte as a consultant, and for The House of Commons where he led on workforce planning and resourcing. From 2017 to 2022 he served as an External Member of the National Trust's Council.

In his spare time James likes to collect vinyl, paint and ride his bike. He believes strongly in the importance of the voluntary sector and the benefits it offers to society as a whole. He is excited to have the opportunity to offer his skills and experience to St Peter's Hospice.

Mark was born in Dubai, before moving to the UK and studying at St Andrews University in Scotland. He worked in London for 13 years as an Investment Manager and latterly as a Private Banker, before moving to Bristol in 2011. In 2012 Mark joined Lloyds Banking Group where he was head of Lloyds Private Clients for the Wales and West region. In 2019, Schroders Personal Wealth was formed as a joint venture between Lloyds Private Bank and Schroders Investment Management where Mark was latterly Head of Advice Proposition.

In September 2023, Mark moved to Isio (a Corporate Pensions consultancy and administration spun out of KPMG in 2019) heading up their Wealth Management business. He is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments. He lives near Chew Stoke with his wife, Louise, and their three children, and enjoys turning his hand to most sports, where he excels at being mediocre at best! He enjoys travelling with the family and walks with their two dogs.

Maria is a freelance Marketing Consultant with over 30 years' experience both in agencies and as a client. 

She brings to the board retail marketing experience having been Head of Marketing for The Mall at Cribbs Causeway for over 10 years.

She says she felt compelled to support St Peter's after the amazing care her mother received from the Hospice at Home team and then the Inpatient Unit. She feels passionately about end of life care with dignity and compassion.

She has been a Non-Executive Director for over 10 years; including 3 years as a Trustee of St George's Bristol, 6 years as a Trustee of the Royal West of England Academy, and 9 years as a Governor at Bristol Grammar School. 

Alison is a chartered accountant specialising in the charity sector. She completed her training with a charity-specialist firm in London, before undertaking a secondment to Oxfam's internal audit team to carry out audits across Africa and Asia. On moving to Gloucestershire, Alison took up the role of Head of Finance at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, a national conservation charity. Alison and her husband, later founded Godfrey Wilson, a charity-specialist accountancy firm in Bristol now working with over 250 charities across the UK.

Alison has held various voluntary roles throughout her career, including treasurer of several charities as well as frontline placements in Nepal and Kenya. She lives in Gloucestershire with her husband and two teenage sons and enjoys long walks in the countryside with her dog.

Rich is a Systems Engineer who retired from the British Army in October 2020, after over 35 years in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). His final role was as the senior Land Systems Engineering Officer based in Navy Command Headquarters in Portsmouth, as the lead authority for all aspects of Land Systems Equipment Support, to the Royal Marines, Commando Forces and wider Naval Service.

He was brought up in Brentry, with a Bristolian mother who was referred to St Peter's Hospice in 2010 and a Fijian father who served 22 years in the British Army.

Rich held various roles in Army Rugby in both codes, as a player, coach, team manager and administrator. He was awarded an MBE in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to British Army Rugby League.

Emma-Kate is the Clinical Chair for the Division of Medicine at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW). She trained as a doctor at Bristol University and has been a Consultant Geriatrician at UHBW since 2010. She has a keen interest in medical education, patient safety and governance and clinical leadership. In 2023 she was appointed as a Deputy Medical Director for Invited Reviews with the Royal College of Physicians. 

In her spare time she likes to spend time with her family and also enjoys running and playing  tennis. She is a volunteer at the Westbury Park St Peter's Hospice shop. 

She lives in Bristol with her husband and their two teenage sons.

After graduating, Rob undertook several roles in consultancy and financial services before joining the University of Bristol where he heads up Employer Engagement and Student Enterprise in the Careers team.

Rob has also held leadership roles in resourcing and Corporate Social Responsibility where he has led on employee, member and charity engagement for Nationwide Building Society. Outside of work Rob lives in Backwell with his wife, Laura and their three children. He enjoys coaching his local cricket team, Backwell Flax Bourton CC.

Sarah has been a Chief Executive, previously a Director and member of senior management teams, and now strategic consultant in the charity and not for profit sectors since the mid 1990s, including Young Lives vs Cancer, a number of hospices and NHS charities, Mencap, and Sense.  

Her career started with the communications, campaigning and public affairs environment – both working in public policy for the CBI and in Brussels, and then within disability and health charities, where she became a CEO of two charities. She has sat on a number of different boards in the NHS, housing and voluntary sectors and in a variety of roles - Chair and Vice Chair, Trustee, Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director. This has offered her both a depth understanding of the charity sector and its governance but has also given her breadth drawing in good practice from a number of sectors. She has experience of a range of board committees from Nominations and Remcom, People and Governance, to Finance, Audit and Risk, and Income Generation.

She has a strong interest in palliative care and has worked with a number of different adult hospices both as a consultant and mentor and is also Chair of Together for Short Lives, the leading charity for children’s palliative care.

Alison qualified as a doctor from St Bartholomew's Hospital London Medical School 1980. After her hospital training jobs, she spent 30 years working as a GP in practices in inner City Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

She was a Macmillan GP for over 10 years. This involved working at local, regional and national levels to promote awareness of the early signs of cancer, palliative and end of life care amongst Primary Care staff.

She has been Associate Medical Director of ASW Cancer Network, this was followed by being the Clinical Lead for Cancer in South Gloucestershire CCG and then BNSSG CCG until 2021. These roles involved working in medical management and commissioning in Primary & Secondary Care, including service transformation and pathway redesign.

Alison has recently retired as Interim Medical Director for Sirona Care & Health. She is currently Chair of a Bristol based women's charity and the Designated Safeguarding Lead of Woodlands Group of Churches.

Alison is married with four adult children and four grandchildren. Apart from her voluntary commitments, Alison's family is her principal interest, but she also makes time for fitness activities, needlecraft, and the theatre.